by George Schroeder, USA TODAY Sports

by George Schroeder, USA TODAY Sports

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - For a moment, Devin Gardner struggled to rise. The quarterback was lying alone in a back hallway, still in full uniform, trying to comprehend what had just happened, and how it looked from the outside.

Michigan had beaten Notre Dame 41-30. The guy wearing No. 98 ‚?? "I looked like a great pass-rusher," said Gardner, recognizing the oddity ‚?? had for most of the game been a very good quarterback, the catalyst in a victory that should resonate beyond the bounds of a great rivalry. And yet he kept thinking back to an earlier moment when he'd been in much the same position. On his back, struggling to get back up, and thinking to himself as he did:

"Wow. I just ruined it for everybody."

And in that instant ‚?? early in the fourth quarter, an inexplicably dumb mistake when Gardner tossed the ball up for grabs, avoiding a safety but giving away a touchdown, and here came the luck of the Irish again ‚?? it seemed he might have.

"I feel like if I limit my mistakes, we can go as far as we want," Gardner said, and it sure looked that way Saturday night.

Start with the number. In the moments before kickoff, Gardner shrugged off the No. 12 jersey he'd worn in pregame warm-ups, and throughout his career, and tugged on a new one. Never mind the oddity ‚?? a quarterback wearing No. 98 ‚?? on this night, at least, the number was a nearly perfect fit.

The change was to honor Tom Harmon, Michigan's first Heisman winner (in 1940). Gardner called the opportunity "amazing." And for three quarters, the junior quarterback, who plans to make the jersey switch permanent, looked like a Heisman candidate, too. His performance as a whole was impressive and should reverberate beyond the rivalry. If he continues at that level ‚?? or, as he suggested, improves ‚?? the Wolverines look like a legitimate Big Ten title contender. And that, Gardner insisted, was the real goal.

"This isn't the game that we want ‚?? you know, the Big Ten championship, a Rose Bowl game ‚?? but this is a pretty big game," he said.

For all the pregame debate about the magnitude of the rivalry, a crowd of 115,109 ‚?? the largest in college football history ‚?? that filled Michigan Stadium for the next-to-last scheduled meeting saw a classic. It turned at quarterback. While Tommy Rees' uneven performance resembled so many in his career ‚?? nice plays followed by poor decisions ‚?? Gardner, who took over at quarterback last season when Denard Robinson was injured, showed off a dual-threat ability and, except for one moment, poise and presence.

He's not "Shoelace." He's a much better passer with plenty of mobility, able to run the pro-style offense Brady Hoke prefers ‚?? but also to break free from trouble and make plays when necessary. We make too much of statistics, but check these out: 21 of 33, four touchdowns. Eighty-two rushing yards on 13 carries, with another score. And of course, that one mistake, when everything almost capsized.

"It's a blessing and a curse when you have that kind of ability," Hoke said.

Gardner's ability was encapsulated in two plays late in the third quarter, after Notre Dame had cut the lead to seven points with a 90-yard drive. Gardner converted on third-and-long with his feet, then dropped back and drilled a perfect 41-yard pass downfield to wide receiver Jeremy Gallon. Three plays later, Gardner connected with Gallon again for a 13-yard touchdown and a 34-20 lead.

But football is a funny game. Tons of superlatives can be erased with one bad decision ‚?? one inexplicably, crazy bad decision. Under pressure on third-and-11 from his own 16, Gardner retreated into the end zone. As he was being tackled, he tossed the ball into the air. Notre Dame's Stephon Tuitt scooped it up just before it hit the turf.

"I saw the rusher," Gardner said. "I couldn't get around him and I got cornered, and I was thinking, 'Don't take a safety! Don't take a safety!' And not realizing an interception for a touchdown is a lot worse."

Suddenly, it was 34-27, the Big House was filled with anxiety, and Gardner knew everything might have just been ruined. But on the way back to the sidelines, he told himself: "Our defense is gonna stop 'em and we're gonna get another chance ‚?? and we're gonna finish."

And here was a measure more important than Gardner's stats: How he responded. Hoke said he didn't say anything to the quarterback, because as he came "storming off the field ‚?¶ I think he was pretty even as far as demeanor, and how he looked."

When it was all over, that was the one thing Gardner still wasn't sure about. "To be able to play in front of so many people and perform, and to respond under adversity was amazing for me," he said.

Though he'd put on the No. 98 jersey just before kickoff, and several teammates had told him the whole scene was weird, like a slender defensive end taking snaps and throwing touchdowns, he hadn't yet encountered a mirror.

"I haven't seen myself yet," Gardner said, but that's where he was headed next. "I'm gonna make sure I watch this game very closely."

We all should.

George Schroeder, a national college football reporter for USA TODAY Sports, is on Twitter @GeorgeSchroeder.